Golden Angel 
 
 
May flights of Angels sing thee to thy rest... 
 
LESLIE :  1961-1997
Golden Angel
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
For Leslie,
 
I see you as a laughing child, 
Freckled face and sparkling eyes,
I remember tricks we played on you, 
As teens we weren't too wise.
 
I see you as a laughing teen, 
Freckled face and sparkling eyes,
In and out of scrapes you were, 
But you got all the guys.
 
I see you as a laughing woman, 
Freckled face and sparkling eyes,
A sister true, with loving grace, 
Compassionate, warm and wise.
 
I see you as a laughing angel, 
Freckled face and sparkling eyes,
With wings as soft as feathered down, 
Sailing through the skies.
 
I love you still, little sister... Maureen
 

By now you may be wondering what happened to my sister, that she should die so young.  Me, too.  She is survived by her two sons, Jacob (16) and Jordan (9).  Leslie was widowed in 1995.  Her husband, Steve, died of AIDS.  Two years later, she joined him.  Luckily, the children have tested negative to HIV and are living with their grandparents.

AIDS was always just a scary word to me, something surreal, that I was immune to, or too lucky to get.  It was, at least, until I went to see my sister on her death bed.  I knew it was her because there were only two people in the room besides myself... the nurse, and the old, balding woman curled up on the hospital bed.  I stayed with her until I could find her in that still-breathing corpse that had become her living tomb.  It is not a pretty death.  It's tragic, horrible, frightening, and obscene... but it is definitely not romantic.

So, please... if you're reading this... don't ever say "It won't happen to me..."  Because it will.  Unless you pay attention at all times and in all relationships, it can and will happen to you.  I know, because it happened to my sister.  She wasn't an IV drug user, or promiscuous, or even a careless person.  She made love with her husband and died.  How did he contract it?  Leslie told me once that he'd received a letter from UCLA indicating that he had received a blood product prior to the imposition of mandatory testing, and that he should come in and be tested for HIV.  He ignored the letter, but the disease didn't ignore him.

I love my sister very much.  She was my friend, and supporter, and counselor.  She was bold and self-assured, quick to laugh, and always playing softball, or taking the kids to their games, or coaching, or nursing those she loved.  After her husband died in her care at home, her best friend died of cancer in her care, as well.  But she could still laugh.  The world was truly a better place while she was in it.  I will miss her all the days of my life.

[HOME] [GRAPHICS] [PSP TUTORIAL] [XXANTHE DEXIGN] [ESOTERICA] [MUSIC] [TECH FUN] [HORROR] [LESLIE] [POETRY] [RECOVERY] [DOWNLOADS] [LINKS] [CHAT] [E-MAIL]